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Summary
Summary
The second installment in the Dead Detective series finds protagonist Harry Doyle embroiled in a multiple-murder investigation involving Scientology executives.
"Heffernan's style harks back to traditional hard-boiled mysteries . . . The Scientology Murders isn't likely to make the church's recommended reading list, but for mystery fans it's an entertaining tale." -- Tampa Bay Times
A series of murders in Florida have left the police force baffled and Detective Harry Doyle's much-loved adoptive father seriously wounded. As his investigation becomes personal, Doyle--known to his peers as the Dead Detective--finds he must penetrate one of the most private institutions in the country in order to track down those responsible.
Clearwater, Florida, is the spiritual center of Scientology, a religion that encourages its members to remain pure and true to their beliefs. One senior leader has a misguided young man in his employ, a twisted soul who will stop at nothing to make sure the rules are followed--even if it means shaming the very virtues espoused by the church.
With veils of secrecy surrounding the church's inner sanctums, the detectives are stonewalled at every turn. Eventually, however, the investigation leads Doyle, his partner Vicky Stanopolis, and Clearwater Sergeant Max Abrams to the far reaches of Alaska, where they come face-to-face with death in a form they never expected.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Edgar-winner Heffernan's ambitious if flawed sequel to 2010's The Dead Detective offers an engaging critique of the Church of Scientology. Det. Harry Doyle tangles with the secretive church in Clearwater, Fla., its spiritual headquarters, after his adoptive father is shot and seriously wounded while trying to rescue a young Scientologist who was targeted by the office of church discipline, then later found dead. As Doyle investigates outside his jurisdiction and off the books, the body count climbs. The crimes give Heffernan a chance to explore the bizarre tenets of the faith, sometimes through overly explanatory dialogue. The dual-procedural approach that chronicles both the police pursuit and the moves of the villains highlights the cartoonish nastiness of senior church officials. A slapdash pursuit to a remote Alaskan town feels tacked on and contrived, though the good guys-Doyle; his detective partner, Vicky Stanopolis; and Clearwater police sergeant Max Abrams-remain entertaining and appealing throughout. Agent: Gloria Loomis, Watkins Loomis Agency. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
The Dead Detective pursues miscreants attached to the Church of Scientology from their Florida headquarters to the Yukon State.Sgt. Jocko Doyle, retired from the Clearwater Police Department, is one tough old bird. Shot twice in the back and pushed into a marina in pursuit of Mary Kate O'Connell, a friend's daughter who's joined the Scientologists, he manages to cling to a ladder long enough to get rescued. Even before the discovery of Mary Kate's drowned body, Jocko's adoptive son, Detective Harry Santos Doyle of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, vows to find the man who shot the only father he's ever known. The job won't be easy, since the assailant, Tony Rolf, is a sadistic sociopath sheltered by a church well-insulated from legal challenges that seems to have spies planted everywhere, ready to sabotage any investigation of their secretive doings. On the other hand, Harry (The Dead Detective, 2010) has a distinct advantage of his own: he hears dead people, or at least picks up whispered clues from beyond that begin by leading him to order a search for Mary Kate's corpse and proceed to give him encouragement and information whenever a lesser investigator might have faltered. And a good thing too, since the powers arrayed against Harry range from Regis Walsh, head disciplinarian for the Clearwater Scientologists, and all his minions to Lucy Santos, the fanatical birth mother who tried to kill Harry (hence his nickname) and actually did kill his little brother when they were children and who's returned to his life to try again. Readers who can tolerate the clunky exposition, cartoon bogeymen, and snippets of Scientologist jargon will find the Alaskan finale a highly entertaining piece of payback. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Harry Doyle is finally back, after The Dead Detective (2010), and he's up against the Church of Scientology. (Harry, whose mother tried to kill him when he was 10, was revived after being clinically dead and left with the ability to intuit messages from murder victims.) Here ex-cop Jocko Doyle, Harry's adoptive father, tries to help an old colleague whose daughter has become involved in Scientology; it all goes bad when the young woman drowns and Jocko is shot. That sets Harry after the shooter, psychopathic Tony Rolf, who takes his task of enforcing Scientology's rules so seriously that he's leaving a trail of murdered women behind him. To preoccupy Harry, Scientologist leaders hire security-company honcho Meg Avery to lure him into bed, then defend his mentally ill mother, who comes after Harry after being released from prison. Action moves from Florida's Gulf Coast to the wilds of Alaska, where a most satisfying conclusion takes place. Heffernan pulls no punches in taking on Scientology (and, briefly, Tom Cruise) in this long-awaited return of Harry Doyle. Hard-boiled action with a layer of controversy.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2017 Booklist